By Jordan Long
The Indianapolis Colts may add a veteran quarterback to backup Jacoby Brissett. They brought in Brock Osweiler for a workout. He left without a contract. The Colts had Matt Cassel and Brandon Weeden come in as well. All of them have NFL quarterback experience.
Cassel has played in the most games out of all three. He has been in the NFL for 14 years, appearing in 108 games for 7 franchises. Those are the Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions.
Cassel was the starter for New England in 2008 when Tom Brady had his season end in Kansas City in week one due to an ACL tear. That year, Cassel went 10-5 but New England missed the postseason with a record of 11-5. He was in Kansas City the next 4 years and became their starter. Cassel was a disappointing 19-28 for the Chiefs. His career starting record is 36-45.
Cassel has proven he can be a reliable backup quarterback in this league. When he is in games, Cassel looks down the field at all his receivers and finds the open one. Cassel has thrown for 17,508 yards and 104 touchdowns in his career.
The downside with Cassel is turnovers. He takes risks throwing the ball into double coverage. Those are either batted down for incompletions or turnovers. Cassel has been picked off 82 times. There are times where he holds the ball too long and when pressure comes, the ball is knocked out of his hands for fumbles with a total of 32.
Weeden and Osweiler both have 7-years of NFL experience. Weeden has played for the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, Dallas Cowboys, and Cleveland Browns. He was the starter for the Browns from 2012 to 2013. Weeden’s record there was a dreadful 5-15. Overall in the games he has started, his record is a disappointing 6-19.
Weeden isn’t a quarterback the Colts should sign. He can’t read defenses well. Weeden has a total of 31 touchdowns but has 30 interceptions. Those numbers won’t help the Colts.
Osweiler was with the Broncos for 5 years, serving as the backup to Peyton Manning from 2012 to 2015. He was then in Houston for a year and came back to Denver for 2017. Last season he was in Miami. Osweiler made a name for himself in 2015 when he started 7 games for the Broncos going 5-2 and helped Denver win Super Bowl 50. His career record as a starting quarterback is 15-15.
Osweiler might be the best choice out of the 3. He doesn’t hold onto the football and has a quick release when he fires it to a receiver. Osweiler won’t take as many chances chucking the ball downfield into double coverage. He has 7,418 passing yards, 37 touchdowns and 31 interceptions thrown. Osweiler could be the answer at the backup quarterback position for the Colts.
The Colts need to think about who their best option at the backup quarterback position could be. They could still stick with the two other quarterbacks on their roster, Chad Kelly and Phillip Walker. Once the preseason is over tonight, they will decide in the coming days if they want to add a veteran quarterback to the team.
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